ELLEN: Why did you choose to leave, if you can answer that?
LEAH: Well, you know, my mother got involved when we were very young, so it’s all we really ever knew. But over time my eyes opened, and I just could no longer be affiliated with the organization, and my family felt the same, so we left.

…

ELLEN: Are you OK? LEAH: I’m OK. Yeah, I’m OK. To answer your question, it’s hard, and we’ve lost friends that can no longer talk to us who are still in the organization.
ELLEN: Now, that is a thing, when you leave the church they can’t talk to you or you can’t talk to them or something?
LEAH: Correct.
ELLEN: Wow.
LEAH: And these are friends that we’ve had for, you know dozens of years. But, I have great friends, other friends that are not in the church that have stood by us. And our family is stronger, we’re together, and that’s all I can ask for.
ELLEN: You have me, I’m your friend, we’re your friends.

It’s a pretty big deal for Ms. Remini to be this vocal about the bitchiness of Scientology. They don’t take kindly to people who disagree with their ways and/or esteemed leaders.

You think that’s crazy? Read this. This is a couple that used to live locally and had to move to try and escape the madness.

CORPUS CHRISTI — A former Coastal Bend couple who moved out of Ingleside on the Bay to escape surveillance by the Church of Scientology now say a harassment campaign has followed them to their new home outside of San Antonio.

Marty and Monique Rathbun say in court documents that in the nine months since they left the Coastal Bend, the surveillance has intensified, with someone leasing nearby land and pointing cameras at their property, and people following them when they drive anywhere.

Monique Rathbun is suing the church, affiliated organizations, the man she says leased the neighboring property, and a private detective she says is a church operative. A state district judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing the defendants from surveilling or following her or contacting people she knows.

The church denies the Rathbuns’ claims. It’s unclear whether church leader David Miscavige, of California, also a defendant in the suit, will be compelled to appear in court in Comal County.

A public court appearance by Miscavige would thrust Scientology’s public relations woes further into the spotlight at a time when several books, a film and high-profile defections of celebrity Scientologists have highlighted allegations of mental, physical and financial abuse of church members.

Miscavige said in court filings that he conducts no activities in Texas and therefore shouldn’t be forced to litigate there. The filings call Monique Rathbun’s lawsuit a form of harassment, an attack on religious liberty and an extension of her husband’s vengeance against his former church, casting him as a disgruntled apostate.

Marty Rathbun was a top lieutenant of Miscavige before he fled the church in 2004 and, in 2006, landed in Ingleside on the Bay in search of seclusion. He met Monique Rathbun, who was never in the Church of Scientology, in 2005. But as he began counseling other former church members and speaking to media outlets about church turmoil, the Rathbuns began noticing they were under what seemed like constant surveillance.

A group of Scientologists and hired crew members calling themselves Squirrel Busters, after the Scientology term for a heretic, hounded the Rathbuns for months and repeatedly accosted Monique Rathbun when she was alone, according to her lawsuit.

The couple also say they discovered houses on their street had been leased or purchased by outsiders and had cameras installed and pointed at their house.

Neighbors in the quiet bayside community rallied to support the Rathbuns, and a county attorney rejected the Scientologists’ attempts to prosecute Marty Rathbun for misdemeanors after he swatted away their microphone and scratched one of them during a confrontation. The attorney, David Aken, said no jury would find Rathbun guilty after having endured so much harassment.

A hearing is set this week in Comal County on a potential extension of the restraining order. Monique Rathbun is seeking damages, saying the years-long surveillance has caused mental anguish and financial loss.